Phone Solicitors. You Guys All Know This, Right?

Roger

Hello?

Then the phone solicitor starts going. I let it ride for a little bit and then I say, "Blah blah blah, not interested."

Then I say something cheerful and encouraging, like, "Good luck in your efforts though. I know you have a tough job."

Everybody here does that, right?

I mean those people are just people, no reason to add to their job stress.

SherabDorje

Why is this in Buddhism for Beginners instead of General Banter?

zombiegirl

having worked several service industry jobs myself (still do...), i am more than courteous to people who are "just doing their jobs..."

but man, i had a woman call me the other day that would not let me go and really tried my patience. i wish i would have counted how many times i had to tell her i was not interested (only to have her interject a new point i should hear). but it is important to remember that most jobs have a certain number of times they advise their employees to argue the "no". at the retail store, kohls, we were advised to offer a credit card for 3 "no" answers. annoying as it may be, we all need a paycheck.

Roger

Why is this in Buddhism for Beginners instead of General Banter?

Uh...., I dunno..., I thought it was well fitted with the first lesson beginner Buddhists might be expected to learn. OOPS!

federica

*sigh*.....moved.

A-gain.....

federica

Hello?

Then the phone solicitor starts going. I let it ride for a little bit and then I say, "Blah blah blah, not interested."

Then I say something cheerful and encouraging, like, "Good luck in your efforts though. I know you have a tough job."

Everybody here does that, right?

I mean those people are just people, no reason to add to their job stress.

Any sales call I get, I say, "oh hi! I'm so sorry, could you just hold on for two seconds?"

They invariably answer,
"Sure!"

Then I just put the phone on the side.
The beep-beep-beep "phone off the hook" alarm rings eventually, which means, they gave up, and hung up.
Costs me nothing, and gives them time to do something useful while they wait for me, like file their nails, or something.....

Roger

*sigh*.....moved.

A-gain.....

Thanks for your excellent work federica. I guarantee I spent more than ten seconds thinking where this topic I initiated belonged. My decision was based on what I said above. IMO, It's one of the first lessons a "beginner" should have learned.
My teacher would look at me as if I were nuts if I asked him if __he__ treated solicitors that way. He'd say "DUH!"

compassionate_warrior

Have you guys heard of the National Do-Not Call Registry? You access it online, add your number to the list, and *shazaam* , the calls stop. It's free.
That's for the US. The rest of you will have to see if there's something comparable in your country.

compassionate_warrior

The other thing you can do is get "caller ID". Check the readout before you answer the phone. If the prefix is a toll-free one, it's a solicitor, so just don't answer the phone.

federica

I've just registered with a company in the UK on line.
I'm not about to give them free ww advertising. so if you're in the UK and need the name - PM me.

nanimo

You guys(and girls) are much nicer than me. Usually, I will give them an opportunity to get into their pitch(assuming they do so quickly), and then if what they are trying to sell doesn't interest me I tell them so. If after that they continue their pitch, I then repeat myself and promptly hang up so they can't argue the matter any further.

Cloud

If you waste their time sufficiently, they won't call again. Time is money. Learned that long ago!

Ada_B

I keep getting people phoning me from India, claiming to be from Sky TV and asking if I am happy with my Sky services (I am not a Sky customer). I have heard through the media and through a friend who works for Sky, that these guys do not work from Sky at all, but are part of a scam selling illegal decoder cards to people (often the actual decoder card is never sent, once they have your money, or the cards are illegal 3rd party cards to unlock premium channels, making you and unwitting thief).

Given that these people are effectively criminals, who have phoned us up to 4 times some days, I have reached the end of my tether with them. I no longer engage them in conversation, explaining I am not a Sky customer and am not interested in satellite TV. I simply say "Not interested" and put the phone down.

In UK we can sign up to the telephone preference service so we don't get unwanted sales calls (and it is an offence if a company rings you up in defiance of this ban). However, it cannot control overseas calls, and has little effect on criminals. Hence, if we do get sales calls, they are invariably dodgy.

We also get recorded messages from the States, claiming to sell us lottery tickets (if you phone the given number, its a premium rate number that costs you hundreds); I've had so-called financial companies trying to sell me American shares (completely illegal) and calls from people claiming to be various utilities.

So I'm afraid these days, I don't even give them the time of day. I just say "I'm busy, thanks" or "I'm not interested" or "I don't have time for this" and put the phone down. It might be rude, but as I have expressly stated (via the TPS) that I don't want cold calls and I have never given these people my number, I don't see why I should waste my time or theirs by engaging them in chat.

Ada_B

If you waste their time sufficiently, they won't call again. Time is money. Learned that long ago!

That is if they are not professional con artists or criminals. If you keep them talking they'll believe they can get to you eventually. There was an old guy on the news today conned out of 100,000 GBpounds by a succession of illegal landsales con artists, who kept him talking on the phone for hours. He cracked before they did.

zombiegirl

Ada- i heard somewhere that on such phone calls, they may try to ask certain questions to get you to say "yes". i don't know how much truth there is to it, but i was told to never EVER say "yes" because they can distort the audio track to make it appear that you are saying "yes" to other things. even if it is false, doesn't hurt to try and be mindful of it, i guess.

Roger

Also? Once I got frustrated by frequent calls and with total silence when I answered. Finally I got the number off the caller ID and googled something like, "Whose number is [123 456 7890]?" and was amazed at the results!

Google your annoying number if you feel like it.

Zayl

I got them to stop by answering then before they begin talking I generally say "hold on one second, I am going to masturbate vigorously to the sound of your voice... it turns me on" And then proceed to make vague shuffling or smacking noises to make them think I actually am.

Haven't had a call since... and honestly? that "do not call" registry does not work all the time. My number is on it and they still continued to call. Not sure if this counts as skillful behavior... but you know what? it works.

Mountains

Have you guys heard of the National Do-Not Call Registry? You access it online, add your number to the list, and *shazaam* , the calls stop. It's free.
That's for the US. The rest of you will have to see if there's something comparable in your country.

That only works for the for-profit companies. I still regularly get calls from all sorts of non-profits who are not covered by the NDNCR statute.

Ada_B

Google your annoying number if you feel like it.

They invariably block the number.

Ada_B

Ada- i heard somewhere that on such phone calls, they may try to ask certain questions to get you to say "yes". i don't know how much truth there is to it, but i was told to never EVER say "yes" because they can distort the audio track to make it appear that you are saying "yes" to other things. even if it is false, doesn't hurt to try and be mindful of it, i guess.

My dad just says "If I want your product, I'll ring you. Thank you" and puts the phone down!